1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to packaging for food and non-food items which are sized for being dispensed from vending machines.
2. State of the Art
Various types of coin-operated vending machines are known for dispensing beverage and food products. A very common type is that which dispenses soft drinks, usually cold, in standard 12 oz. cans. In a typical such machine, rows of cans are held in a refrigerated internal storage area and chute means may be positioned to move the cans to a delivery slot. When the machine is activated, such as by insertion of coinage or other form of payment, a can is released from the storage area and delivered through a chute means to the delivery slot. The chute is shaped and sized so that the can may slide or roll in an orderly way to the delivery area for grasping by the purchaser.
Vending machines for other kinds of foods such as cookies, sandwiches, candy bars, fruit, snack chips, crackers, hard-boiled eggs, and the like, are typically somewhat different than soft-drink machines. One kind of machine has coiled wires holding the goods, the packaging of which must be of relatively flat configuration suitable for holding between adjacent coils of the wire. Activation of the machine for a selected item causes the wire coil holding that item to rotate about its central axis, causing the item to move forward to the end of the coil and then to drop free to a slot where it is graspable by the purchaser. Another kind of machine has a series of flat-bottomed compartments arranged in columns on an inner housing which rotates in steps about a vertical axis. Each step brings one column of compartments in registration with doors in an outer housing, a door being openable upon payment by the purchaser.
The described types of food vending machines (as distinguished from soda can dispensing machines) are suitable for their intended purposes, but have certain disadvantages. Both kinds of machines have relatively limited capacity, and each individual item must be restocked by hand, coil-by-coil or compartment-by-compartment. The restocking process is thus time-consuming and tedious. In contrast, restocking of a soft-drink machine of the type described above is simpler and less time-consuming, since all that is needed is to place an oriented group of cans into the refrigerated holding area. The round cans tend to orient themselves in groups.
Also, the types of machines that dispense solid foods are generally much less widely distributed than are soft-drink can dispensing machines. Thus, soft drink vending machines are very prevalent, even in remote or sparsely travelled areas. As a result, a vending machine location may provide only soft drinks, or may provide only vendable food, but typically not both.
Coil-type machines are not suitable for dispensing drinks, whether in cans or otherwise. In general, the compartments of automat-style machines are not sized large enough for dispensing standard soft drink cans, though they may dispense drinks in smaller sized cans (for example six ounce juice cans). Still another problem with the coil-type machines is that the soft-sided packaging required for cookies, crackers, snack chips, etc. in these machines permits the contents of the package to be crushed or broken, which is undesirable.
Thus, a need remains for improved means for vending non-beverage food items or non-comestible items from vending machines which are widely or prevalently available for dispensing beverages. A need also remains for improved packaging for food or non-food items for vending machines.